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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wax · capital · rule · degree · stem · last

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. last — to go on
  3. degree — temperature
  4. capital — money
  5. degree — an amount
  6. rule — a law
  7. last — finally
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. stem — to come from
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. last — final
  14. capital — a city
  15. rule — government
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. degree — from a university
  18. capital — a big letter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com